Music / Talk on Internet Radio

[Sahisko]

This is a really dumb question but all of you seem to know a lot about internet radio so maybe you can help me. If someone wanted to start their own internet radio station and run music, do you have to own the music on CDs to legally play them on your internet radio station? I was just wondering how copyright laws apply to those folks who run internet radio stations on their computer.


Also, how do you find enough programming for your stations? I would love to start a talk station but I would be the only host on the station because I don’t know any people who live around me who would want to host as well. :-( Is there anyway I can create an internet radio show and distribute it online rather than having a whole station?


You guys are awesome, and I apologize for calling the message board monitor an ‘idiot.’
Sahisko

 

[jcolletta275]

Legally speaking, what you'd need to broadcast music is called a "performance license". Some streaming hosts include that fee in their packages, some don't (and most will tell you up-front either way). If you're looking to just go it on your own, you'll have to pay the fee yourself... and it's pretty cost-prohibitive for most hobbyists.

As far as doing a broadcast without having to set up a whole station, what you're talking about is "podcasting"... a term which came about with the iPod's growth in popularity. The idea behind the method is that one pre-records a show and uploads it to a server. A feed from that server then notifies listeners' iTunes programs that a new show has just been uploaded, and depending on their settings, they can download the show to their iPod automatically or listen on their computer later on if they so wish. The only disadvantage to doing it this way would be that you're not broadcasting live. If you want to go live with the show, you'd have to set up a whole station or find someone who already has a station who might be willing to put your show on the air.

Hope this helps!